Vietnam aims to turn technology into growth driver

NDO - A national strategy on developing technology firms has been announced at a recent forum organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). Below are some notable opinions at the forum.

MIC Minister Nguyen Manh Hung: Developing tech firms is top priority

The manufacturing and marketing activity of today’s companies cannot be effective without using technology. Those employing technology to renovate their products, or the way products are made, and their business models will help reshape the world.

Technology companies, either developing and manufacturing or providing technology as a service, are important factors in accelerating technological application throughout the entire economy and society.

Therefore, developing Vietnamese tech firms must be a top priority. If we want to have such firms, the creation of a market may be the most importing task. The government will be the nation’s biggest spender.

And if government spending focuses on domestically made technological products, it will make a considerable contribution, especially in the early stages of the birth of domestic technology firms.

Digital transformation is taking place at a rapid pace on a national scale, in all fields, from enterprises to government and society, creating a huge market for Vietnamese digital firms. This year, Vietnam will announce its national digital transformation strategy, with the aim for a digital economy and society, forming a digital environment to facilitate innovations. Therefore, digital transformation is considered a precondition for widespread innovation.

With the birth of Be Group, we are following the sustainable path to build a digitally connected ecosystem. Through a series of services, we participate in solving specific transport and delivery problems along with the local government. Currently the start-up environment in Vietnam is growing strongly but a number of inconsistencies still remain, especially in the legal framework for services. Tech firms are developing fast, causing the legal framework to fall behind.

The business rules applied to domestic start-up companies are relatively strict while some foreign firms competing directly with their Vietnamese rivals have yet to comply with domestic regulations, which has led to unfair competition. If no changes are made, Vietnam can hardly be in control of its technology-based economy.

Therefore, Vietnamese tech firms should make serious and substantial investments so as not to be dependent on foreign technology. In the fourth industrial revolution, the most valuable technological asset is users’ data and it is the nation’s resource. Vietnamese firms need to take charge and the government needs to take control of this resource. We suggest that the government should create an environment for fair competition between domestic and foreign enterprises.

The fourth industrial revolution is happening, and Vietnamese enterprises can either choose to be a part of it or stand outside and accept being discarded. With the organisation of this forum, the government has demonstrated that it attaches great importance to technology, considering it as a driver of economic growth.

The business community has also seen the government’s strong support so that they can be further motivated to develop new technological products for the domestic market and reach out to the international market.

As an enterprise that creates and deploys technological products for other enterprises, Haravan fully supports and will be happy when the government has created all conditions, formulated policies and fine-tune the legal framework in order to help domestic enterprises to grow in the most conducive environment.

An important question is how to create favourable conditions for technology-based products to develop. The largest hurdle remains in the imposition of the old way of thinking on new creative models. In Vietnam, tech firms still have to pay high corporate income tax in comparison with other countries, in addition to other policy obstacles.

That is why many Vietnamese enterprises, which want to invest in technology and possess sufficient resources and strong determination, dare not to take action or have yet to embark at full speed.

Therefore, we hope that after this forum there will be fundamental changes. I think digital content should be a key economic sector. The personal income tax must be regarded as a key tool to attract talents and reduce costs for enterprises. In addition, it is necessary to develop the domestic market by valuing domestic enterprises.